EXPLORING THE ERP PRE-IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS IN A SMALL-AND-MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISE: A CASE STUDY OF A NORWEGIAN RETAIL COMPANY

This study examines the ERP pre-implementation process in a Small-and-Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME), and identifies critical issues in this process. The ERP pre-implementation phase comprises issues of selecting ERP software, vendors, and consultant. It is a critical process especially for SMEs which normally have limited resources and IT competencies. Interesting findings from this study demonstrate that ERP pre-implementation in a SME is a demanding process which required a high level of knowledge and competencies about the system, and tough negotiation processes between project leader, vendor, resellers and consultants. By using the CEO’s business network to check the resellers’ track records, and invite prospective resellers for auditions, the project team was able to find a proficient reseller and consultant. In addition, the company organized business case scenarios to test the competencies of consultants. Building a long term partnership and trust between the company, the reseller and the consultant was considered critical. Thus, to choose the most sufficient actors for implementing and supporting the system, seemed to be just as critical as selecting the system itself

Creating a sustainable digital infrastructure: The role of service-oriented architecture

The United Nations’ goal of generating sustainable industry, innovation, and infrastructure is the point of departure for our reflective paper. The paper elaborates on the concepts of digital infrastructure, service-oriented architecture, and microservices. It emphasizes the benefits and challenges of creating a sustainable infrastructure based on a service-oriented environment, in which cloud services constitute an important part. We outline the prerequisites for obtaining a sustainable digital infrastructure based on services. Service-oriented architecture (SOA) and recently, microservice architecture, and cloud services, can provide organizations with the improved agility and flexibility essential for generating sustainability in a market focusing on digitalization. The reuse capability of SOA provides a common pool of information technology (IT) resources and qualifies as a green IT approach that impacts environmental protection. Previous research has identified IT and business alignment together with SOA governance as the most critical criteria when implementing SOA. This paper discusses these issues in-depth to explain sustainability.publishedVersio

Agility and system documentation in large-scale enterprise system projects: a knowledge management perspective

The growth of the agile approach usage comes with a deemphasis on formal documentation (explicit knowledge) and an increased reliance on personal interactions (tacit knowledge) for knowledge transfer. However, the sharing of tacit knowledge poses challenges. The agile approach is prone to knowledge hoarding, as well as knowledge loss from employee turnover and reassignment during periods of significant organizational changes. This study proposes a model that frames documentation and personal interactions as co-agents of system knowledge transfer. We report the preliminary confirmation of crucial antecedents along the dimensions of codification and personalization strategies to support our model. We present a set of findings on current practices, as well as a set of knowledge-sharing issues on system documentation based on three main categories. The first category incorporates system development approaches applied in large-scale enterprise systems projects. The second and the third categories comprise eight knowledge management themes, classified into the dimensions of personalization and codification for knowledge sharing and document practices. Finally, we put forward five propositions based on our findings.publishedVersio

Exploring knowledge work practices and evolution in distributed networks of practice

Published version of an article from the journal:Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management Also available from the publisher: http://www.ejkm.com/volume-8/v8-1/v8-i1-art7.htmThis paper derives from a longitudinal study conducted in a multinational company. Through an interpretive case study approach, we have explored the phenomenon of knowledge networking in distributed work. More specifically, we have focused on the evolution patterns in a particular knowledge networking structure denoted as distributed networks of practice. The paper conceptualizes this kind of network of practice as an information and communication technology (ICT) facilitated dynamic relationship of participants that are geographically and temporally dispersed from one another, and who are sharing and creating knowledge related to their daily work practices and business problems. Three different categories of networks were identified 1) problem solving networks, 2) business improvement networks, and 3) innovation networks. Findings demonstrate that the networks evolved differently over time, and the study identified four distinct evolution patterns comprising 1) devolution in terms of short life cycle and dissolution, 2) recursive patterns where new ad-hoc networks emerged from the mother network, 3) integration of knowledge practices through cross-network proposals, and 4) innovation and expansion in scope and size. While previous studies have suggested fixed models for how a life cycle of a community takes place, this study however identified four dissimilar evolution patterns. Thus, these findings challenge life cycles models suggested in traditional community of practice research. The paper utilizes an information infrastructure perspective to provide an improved understanding of the evolution patterns within these networks by viewing them as ecological social structures facilitated by a technological infrastructure. Through social lines of practice and effective knowledge sharing, the participants created an infrastructure of knowing within the organization and managed to alter organizational practices through evolution. The paper illustrates how a knowledge networking structure as such may facilitate distributed work practices and knowledge activities across temporal and spatial boundaries

MANAGING CHANGE IN ERP IMPLEMENTATION: LESSONS LEARNED FROM AN SME CONTEXT

Organizations implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems experience the need for extensive changes in structure, core processes, and roles - making change management crucial. Prior research on change management in ERP implementations focuses mostly on large enterprises and lacks empirical insight into why change management is challenging. We conducted a case study in a Norwegian Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) working in mechanical manufacturing. Interviews, observations, and documents were analyzed. This study contributes to the literature focusing on change management in ERP implementations and pro-vides rich insight into how and why change management is challenging in an SME context by detailing eight key reasons behind 33 challenges. Lessons learned from this study may have transferable value to other SMEs implementing ERP. The study highlights the importance of considering culture, overall organizational workload, and ensuring deep engagement during an ERP project. Several of the challenges were interconnected. Customizing organizational processes was challenging because it opposed the established culture within the company, risk management was underestimated, and culture was more of an impediment than a facilitator for change management. Finally, the management style, lack of holistic project view, and lack of competence in computer usage were also identified as challenges impeding an efficient implementation

Enterprise Architects’ Logics across Organizational Levels: A Case Study in the Norwegian Hospital Sector

In this paper, we report about a multilevel case study on the introduction of enterprise architecture (EA) in the Norwegian hospital sector. We utilize institutional logics as a theoretical lens, focusing on the enterprise architects’ logics that are underexplored in information systems research. We have col-lected empirical evidence at national (macro), regional (meso), and local (micro) levels. The findings are classified into nine categories with illustrative statements from the informants, demonstrating their reasoning about the contributions of EA. Furthermore, we identify tensions between enterprise archi-tects and managers and between enterprise architects and medical actors, which indicate the co-existence of multiple competing institutional logics. The most prominent tension is the paradox of EA—demands for local flexibility and autonomy at the micro level versus the predefined rules and standardization that EA imposes across all levels—which makes the institutionalizing process chal-lenging. The enterprise architect logics demonstrate similarities and differences across the various levels, indicating heterogeneity. We conclude this paper with a suggested persona of the enterprise architect, which illustrates the empirical findings

Enterprise architecture operationalization and institutional pluralism: The case of the Norwegian Hospital sector

Enterprise architecture (EA) is a systematic way of designing, planning, and implementing process and technology changes to address the complexity of information system (IS) landscapes. EA is operationalized when architecture visions move towards realization through concrete projects. We report a case study on the dynamics of operationalizing EA in the Norwegian hospital sector by exploring different EA project trajectories. Our empirical context is an institutionally pluralistic setting where multiple logics coexist. We show that the distinct logic of EA is added to the institutional context and we find that tensions among existing medical, technical, and managerial logics and EA principles and assumptions emerge. We contribute to the under‐researched topic of EA operationalization by suggesting a model that demonstrates how the meeting of multiple institutional logics can lead to varying degrees of differentiation or even disassociation from EA visions during decision‐taking in projects. Furthermore, we advance extant research on IS projects' implementation in institutionally pluralistic settings by providing an empirical account of actors' interactions and project leadership arrangements that contribute to the persistence of coexisting logics in a dynamic equilibrium.publishedVersio

Managing ERP Customization Expectations With Organizational Change Management

The customization of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems can increase the local benefits of end- users. However, it also increases the costs of development and implementation for every system upgrade. Finding balance is a common challenge. A critical element in the process is organizational change management (OCM). This paper reports the pre-implementation phase results of a longitudinal case study on the relation between OCM and customization at a leading international automobile systems manufacturer: Hanover Auto Systems. The study uses a two- pronged approach: first a qualitative assessment, followed by the development of a research model. The interviews with key project managers indicate that OCM communication on the vision and ERP details is a major challenge and influences ERP customization expectations in the pre-go-live stage. Based on this finding, a research model was conceptualized on ERP customization expectations and local unit benefits. The results of a survey questionnaire to the project managers show that local units inherently expect OCM to increase customization for their benefits. Problems with the OCM vision and organizational support cause OCM problems. This in turn lower the expectations for wanted customization, because users become unware of the details of new ERP systems. The implications of our findings are discussed

Moving enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to the cloud: the challenge of infrastructural embeddedness

Cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions allow organizations to support and coordinate key business processes by leveraging virtualization. Nevertheless, moving ERPs to the cloud is not straightforward, and organizational cloud ERP initiatives raise multiple concerns. We conducted an in-depth systematic review of relevant research literature and identified six key concerns related to cloud ERP implementation: a) the introduction of new ERP work arrangements, launch b) the migration of legacy data, c) the assurance of compliance with extant rules and regulations for security, d) the continuous alignment between ERP functionality and business processes, e) the ongoing integration between ERPs and the rest of the organization’s application portfolio, and f) the establishment of adequate reliability levels. The identified concerns are associated with both transition management and operations supported by cloud ERPs. All the identified concerns are also related to the need to achieve infrastructural embeddedness. This need sets ERPs apart from other types of cloud-based applications, such as office automation solutions that do not have as many dependencies and exchanges with other systems and repositories within an organization’s information infrastructure. We argue that the challenge of embeddedness has different implications for organizations of different sizes, and we call for further empirical research